370 NESTS AND EGOS OF 



well concealed among the weeds and tall gra,ss. It is usually nothing but a slight 

 arrangement of grasses in concentric rings, the brim being flush with the surface. 

 The eggs are three to six in number, usually four or five, and there exists as great a 

 variety in coloration as are to be found in the eggs of the Song Sparrow. The 

 ground-color is greenish or grayish-white, spotted, speckled and blotched with light 

 brown and lilac, particularly about the larger end, and the markings are often so 

 numerous that they almost conceal the ground-color; average size .76x.54 inches. 



. 5426. WESTERN SAVAIfNAH SPARROW. Ammodramus sandwichensis 

 alaudinus (Bonap.) Geog. Dist. — Western North America (except in general the Pa- 

 cific coast region); breeds from Rocky Mountains north to Alaska; south in- winter 

 to Mexico. 



The general habits, nesting, and eggs of this Western form of the Savannah 

 Sparrow are in no wise peculiar, but are like those of A. s. savanna. Average size of 

 the eggs, .75X.55 Inches. 



542c. BRYANT'S MARSH SPARROW. Ammodramus sandwichensis brywnti 

 Ridgw. Geog. Dist. — Salt marshes of San Francisco Bay, and south along the coast, 

 in winter to Southern California. 



This subspecies differs from P. sandwichensis alaudinus in being decidedly small- 

 er and darker in the coloration of the upper parts, which are similar to A.- beldingi 

 but not so heavily streaked with black, etc. It has been named by Mr. Ridgway in 

 honor of the well-known ornithologist, Walter E. Bryant, of Oakland, Gala., who has 

 devoted much study to the birds of San Francisco Bay and vicinity. Mr. Bryant 

 has kindly furnished me with an account of this bird's nesting, eggs, etc. He states 

 that it is a common resident about Oakland, particularly during the winter, when 

 they become generally distributed over fields and along roadsides. The bird ap- 

 parently prefers dry ground just away from salt marshes for nesting sites, although 

 they also breed amongst the marsh grass in places not subject to overflow during ex- 

 cessively high tides. The flelds selected are usually those more or less overgrown 

 with grass and weeds, or pasture lands where considerable cattle are grazing. The 

 nests are placed on the ground, usually in a depression. The usual number of eggs 

 is four, rarely five. The color of a set of four taken by Mr. Bryant on May 22, 1880, 

 is grayish-white, irregularly blotched with light brown and redc^ish-brown, sparingly 

 'marked with light purple, which is more noticeable about the larger end, where it 

 appears as shell markings underlying the brown. They measure 20x14.5, 19.5x14.5, 

 19.5x14.5, 20.5x14.5 mm.* The nest from which these were taken is composed out- 

 wardly of small, dark grass-stems, and lined with fine, light-colored grasses; ex- 

 ternal diameter 115 mm. by 50 mm. in height; the cavity is 58 mm. in diameter by 24 

 mm. deep.t Another set of four eggs in Mr. Bryant's collection came from San 

 Mateo county, California, and was taken May 12, 1878. These are grayish-white, 

 heavily blotched with yellowish and reddish-brown, and an under color of pale 

 lavender. Their sizes are 18.5x14, 18.5x14.5, 19x14.5, 18.5x14.5 mm.t 



543. BELDING'S HARSH SPARROW. Ammodramus heldinffl Ridgw. Geog. 

 Dist.— Salt marshes of Southern California, from Santa Barbara south to Todos 

 Santos Island, Lower California. 



• .79X.57, .77X.57, .77X.57, .81X.57. 



t External diameter of nest 4.53; helerht, 1.97; diameter of cavity, 2.28 by .94 In depth. 



t.73x.55, .73X.55, .75x.57, .73x.57. 



